|
Phisty posted:My question is: could the weight loss/clear skin be a sign the progesterone is wearing off? If it is, should I be concerned about babies or will it still work because theres a thing in my vadge? The progesterone is not wearing off. There are many factors that can lead to changes in weight and acne. First, Mirena doesn't cause weight gain/loss. You mention that you haven't changed your lifestyle considerably, but how closely have you been paying attention to it? Second, acne is typically at its worse in the teens to early 20s in women, so yours might be clearing up simply due to age. Whatever the root cause of these changes, they are themselves not a cause to worry about the effectiveness of your birth control. Your body will not develop a tolerance to the progestin in the Mirena, and on top of that you have a thing in your vadge.
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2011 02:21
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 19:24 |
|
|
Namirsolo posted:Sorry if this has been asked before. Would a Nuvaring prevent a guy from being able to hit the cervix? I know someone who experienced something akin to 'penis ring toss' with it. I guess if you're well-endowed and having rough sex, poo poo can happen.
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2011 03:21
|
|
|
Tried to find an answer in the FAQ but didn't find anything so... If the GF is taking the pill, when is unprotected sex the safest? Is it at anytime since she's taking the pill? Or during/before period?
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2011 19:04
|
|
|
trapt posted:Tried to find an answer in the FAQ but didn't find anything so... As long as she's taking it as directed and isn't taking anything else that might interfere with it, I think you're pretty much as protected as you can be anytime of the month. The whole idea of most hormonal birth control is that it prevents her from ovulating at all. So no matter when/how often you have sex, there's no egg to fertilize. Not an expert, but that's my understanding from everything I've been told by doctors and the instructions I got when I first started the pill.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2011 19:51
|
|
|
So I posted a few weeks ago about getting the Depo shot for the first time. Holy god this is awful. I've been spotting non stop since then. I've had cramps so bad that my belly is sore when I'm not actually cramping. I can't have an orgasm because when I get close to climax, my uterus just contracts horribly and it turns into super-mega cramp. The last few days the cramping has been really bad and the bleeding is heavier, almost like a period. I saw my gyno today and I asked her if she would give me some nuvarings (family planning, woo) and help me figure out when I could start using them, as I have roughly 6 weeks of the shot left. She gave me some and said something like "I don't see why you can't use the ring since it helped you before" and I didn't think about it until later. Was she telling me to go ahead and start now? I guess I can call the nurse tomorrow and double check. It just seems weird to me to pop in a ring when I have the Depo wrecking havoc on my hormones as it is. If not, can you ladies help me figure out when to start the first ring? I had the injection on May 10. I've got roughly 6 weeks to go but I'm a little confused. Is it 12 weeks? 90 days? Do I just go with it on August 10?
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 01:58
|
|
|
Thank you for this thread.
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 03:02
|
|
|
evelynevvie posted:If not, can you ladies help me figure out when to start the first ring? I had the injection on May 10. I've got roughly 6 weeks to go but I'm a little confused. Is it 12 weeks? 90 days? Do I just go with it on August 10? I asked my doctor about this when I went to nuva and the answer was essentially "Eh, you'll be covered so it doesn't matter when you put it in as long as its before your depo runs out*" I'd put it in the day your doctors appointment for a new shot would have been personally, but I'm not a doctor. *I can't think of a better way to phrase it than "runs out."
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 04:28
|
|
|
I had my Implanon removed yesterday after 3 years. I have 4 stitches and am on antibiotics, I think my DR was a tad scalpel happy (I will not be seeing him again). Back to the drawing board to find birth control which won't make my sex drive decrease dramatically 
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 04:55
|
|
|
Holy crap, 4 stitches?!? My ob/gyn slapped a bandaid on mine and was like "you're good to go!" Wow.
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 05:05
|
|
|
If you can't ask strangers on the internet about your vag problems, who can you ask? Anyway, I've been on various low-dose monophasic pills for about 10 years, but over the last 6 or so I've had more yeast in there than there should be. (Not an infection, more so the balance being out of wack.) I'm suspecting the BC pills are running me afoul and not, say, diabeetus. Are some methods (non-estrogen?) better than others for keeping my vag at optimal yeast levels?
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 05:51
|
|
|
If I'm understanding your concern correctly, birth control makes a lot of women wetter in general. If it's like a ridiculous ton more or it has suspicious characteristics that's a possible concern, but just general extra wetness is pretty much normal on birth control for many. Non-hormonal birth controls as far as I know, don't have a direct effect on yeast levels.
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 07:50
|
|
|
Skywriter posted:Holy crap, 4 stitches?!? My ob/gyn slapped a bandaid on mine and was like "you're good to go!" My sister got Implanon and the insertion made it look like she'd been in a fight. loving nasty bruises. After hearing about how it's inserted, I decided not to look into it. I'm happy with my other stuff, even if I have to take it every day. I might show up with a camera in hand whenever she gets hers out just to capture some gore.
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 14:11
|
|
|
Implanon insertion isn't so scary -- they just make a small puncture and slide it in with a needle. I literally couldn't tell when mine was happening. There was zero gore or pain. There was some bruising, but keep the ace bandage on and it shouldn't be an issue. Removal is a little scarier and mine wasn't super fun, but I still didn't need anything more than a Band-Aid! It's just supposed to be one small hole and a pair of tweezers, not a chunk taken out of your arm and four stitches! I'm sorry that went so wrong.
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 15:18
|
|
i like nice words
|
After 3 straight months of bleeding, I have an appointment to get my Implanon out on Tuesday!!! I'm super excited! How exactly is it removed? Does it hurt? e: ha just saw that post! ^^
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 15:20
|
|
|
Just came in from having my Implanon removed. They give you a local anaesthetic, make a little cut with a scalpel then use tiny forcep things to grab hold of it and pull it out. Mine was fairly well-stuck so he made the initial cut a little bigger but that was all. The local was... Well, local anaesthetic, so it stung a bit, but the removal itself was just a bit weird and there was lots of tugging. I get icked out by that sort of thing fairly easily but I'm fine, and it wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. I have a couple of steristrips over it and a bandage, been told to keep it on for a couple of days.
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 16:30
|
|
|
Hi all, thanks so much for this thread. I'm a 27 y.o. Canadian female with a history of uterine fibroids. They really suck. I went on the pill (Diane) in 2000 when I was 16 to help with acne (which was amazing and worked great!) and when I went to university the school insurance didn't cover it so I switched to Tricyclen Lo, then tried the Ortho Evra patch. In 2005 I started getting unbelievably heavy breakthrough bleeding, at least that's what the clinic doctors told me. They put me on different types of pills with higher and higher estrogen levels to try to stop the bleeding, but never did tests to try to figure out why it was happening. TMI moment, but I was basically bleeding non-stop for 3 years, going through the super heavy tampons every 1-2 hours at the worst points. The doctors didn't believe me about how heavy it was, and I didn't have a GP at the time, so I only had the clinic doctors and they changed all the time. Eventually my requests for a referral to a gynecologist went through, and after a simple internal ultrasound I finally found out I had fibroids (which my mom and grandma had, both resulting in hysterectomies, thanks mom for NOT telling me about that.) Anyway, 2008 I go surgery and it was night and day! My normal body was back, and all was well. I was put on Seasonale to try to keep level hormones so they didn't return, but... They're back. At least, I'm pretty sure, but my gyno appt isn't until August 8th (made the appointment in May... This wait time is silly). Anyway, to the point, I've read a few things about Mirena being effective in preventing or helping fibroids, and I wonder if anyone has any experience with this? I asked my new GP this week (finally got one in 2008) and she was in support of it, but told me ultimately I need to talk to my gyno which I plan to do at my appointment. If I do have fibroids again, and need surgery again, do you think I can get the Mirena put in at the same time? I worry that it might increase the risks of PID if that happens. I briefly considered endometrial ablation, but I might still want kids one day, and my boyfriend of 6.5 years definitely does want them, so I guess it's not really an option. Ultimately these are the questions I'll be asking at my appt, I am just so eager to get this all figured out now. I'm sorry if this belongs more in the Goon Doctor or something... tl;dr : my girly bits are broken, I hope mirena will help me.
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 16:42
|
|
|
I'm on my phone and can't figure out how to edit... To clarify I had surgery to excise the fibroids, vaginally. I did not get a hysterectomy or anything like that. Sorry if that might've been confusing.
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 16:49
|
|
|
Jaeda posted:I'm sorry if this belongs more in the Goon Doctor or something... This definitely belongs in here. I can't answer any of your questions, unfortunately. I am very sorry you've had such a horrible time with your lady parts though In the meantime, if you're having heavy periods, do check out the menstrual cup thread. The difference between tampons/pads & the cup is night and day.
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 17:40
|
|
|
Kerfuffle posted:If I'm understanding your concern correctly, birth control makes a lot of women wetter in general. If it's like a ridiculous ton more or it has suspicious characteristics that's a possible concern, but just general extra wetness is pretty much normal on birth control for many. If it was just wetness, I wouldn't be as bothered, but there's other yeastly symptoms. My gyno confirmed it's yeast, and suggested balancing out the ph so it would be less yeast-friendly. I just didn't know if people had similar problems and solved them by switching to a different method. Looks like I'll be playing BC pill roulette until I find a better one.
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 20:19
|
|
|
Jaeda posted:Hi all, thanks so much for this thread. I'm a 27 y.o. Canadian female with a history of uterine fibroids. They really suck. My family has a history of terrible Fibroids as well. My mother's were so bad that when she was pregnant with me the ultrasound looked like she was having twins. My sister got fibroids VERY early(around 16) and the only thing that somewhat shrunk them was when she had Mirena inserted. She decided she didn't want kids and got a hysterectomy this January, though. My period has always been normal until this year. (I'm 18.) Heavy bleeding and terrible migraines started and my Gyno got me on Loestrin 24 with much success! Here's hoping my lady bits decide to not be a dick and muck everything up. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2011 23:22
|
|
|
Jaeda posted:tl;dr : my girly bits are broken, I hope mirena will help me. I don't know so much about fibroids, but I've had lots of luck with Mirena helping my broken girly bits. Fewer periods = less trouble, in general, as far as I know. Between my Mirena and my shiny new Mooncup, I can't wait for my next period, which I expect to be light and no problem at all. The patient information for the Mirena makes it sounds awesome for fibroids as well as endometriosis, and according to my pelvic pain doc, it's just great for pelvic pain in general, regardless of the cause (even if it's not reproductive in nature). So hopefully it'll help you!
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2011 01:33
|
|
|
Ok, I have another Depo question. So all along I've been spotting a lot, several times every day. The last few days I've been having basically a semi-heavy period. I just ordered a Diva Cup so hopefully that will help with that. My question is this: if the heavy bleeding and very very very bad cramps continue for more than a few days should I call my gyno? I ask because when I got the shot 6ish weeks ago, they told me to call if I was bleeding really heavy. I dunno, my uterus is so hosed up. I am switching to the Nuvaring in august when this loving hell shot wears off. I thought the doc was telling me to use the rings now to hopefully stop the bleeding but I'm not sure.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2011 04:22
|
|
|
Lanthanum posted:After 3 straight months of bleeding drat, girl. I don't even know how you dealt with that poo poo. I get pissed off if I go for three days 
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2011 05:12
|
|
|
evelynevvie posted:Ok, I have another Depo question. When in doubt, call. You can also clarify the rings thing.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2011 15:03
|
|
|
Anyone here use sponges? Until I get my birth control crisis settled, I think they'd be a nice option as my boyfriend's moving in next week.  Would you say they're worth the cost? I feel as though they're an archaic form of birth control, can someone prove the contrary?
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2011 17:18
|
|
|
1337 haxxor pirate posted:Anyone here use sponges? Until I get my birth control crisis settled, I think they'd be a nice option as my boyfriend's moving in next week. I'd say they're less effective and more expensive than condoms, but if you really want to go the barrier-free route, they might be slightly better than spermicidal gel alone. (Personally I wouldn't trust either except as back-up, but I'm paranoid.)
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2011 18:01
|
|
|
1337 haxxor pirate posted:Anyone here use sponges? Until I get my birth control crisis settled, I think they'd be a nice option as my boyfriend's moving in next week. A 9% perfect use failure rate is too high for me. What's wrong with condoms?
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2011 18:14
|
|
|
Geolicious posted:drat, girl. I thought it would go away after a while.. but implanon is coming out Tuesday, I AM SO EXITED
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2011 07:00
|
|
|
Eggplant Wizard posted:A 9% perfect use failure rate is too high for me. What's wrong with condoms? I'm meeting with the doc next week once I get moved to discuss something more long - term. The sponges would only be used occasionally for camping sexcapades had in the interim (avoid multiple condoms, one sponge per 30 hours?). An experiment. For science! Eh... the draw was simplicity. I can't stand condoms, but I also can't stand the thought of bearing a child right now. Condoms are not my favorite thing and don't help with the pleasure factor for either of us. I'm also a dirty vegan hippie and don't like excessive trash/most condoms aren't vegan. Boyfriend pulls out regardless right now to be safe. My Googling has produced conflicting information, so I asked here. If the sponge isn't even that effective, it isn't worth my $15. Girly emotional bit - I'm so frustrated with the lack of a vegan, affordable, hormone free implant that won't break my insides. My age isn't helping as most docs I've talked to don't want to do some listening and insist the pill is my only option. This thread has been so helpful and inspired hours of research and phone calls, but I feel I've reached the ends of the Earth in my search for something I can rely on and will probably continue my career as a birth control pill lab rat and hope my boyfriend doesn't leave me when I'm fat, sick, angry, crying and pimply once again.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2011 07:35
|
|
|
Jaeda posted:tl;dr : my girly bits are broken, I hope mirena will help me. Mirena is really amazing because I hardly notice it most of the time. And I don't have periods at all anymore. I just alternate between nothing and moderate spotting. Though, admittedly, I do get weirdly intense cramps sometimes but overall the worst part of the process was having it inserted. I've never had kids so my cervix was pretty tight and it was quite painful to have Mirena inserted. Just a warning about Mirena though, since many women experience this problem. But depending on the shape of your vagina and the shape of your partner's penis, the plastic strings can poke the head of the penis and this is not a comfortable sensation for the guy. Just make sure if the strings are poking him that you tell your doctor to cut the loving things such that they don't poke out of the cervix. Your Gynecologist will probably bitch about it, but if you tell her you want her to do this or you're loving leaving and finding another doctor she'll probably just do what you want. If not, find a doctor who will because this poo poo is a nightmare. You don't want to give your man a complex about the hazards of your vagina. And I'm leaving it at that, since goons are already horrified with my story of having Mirena and all believe I have a deeply dangerous vagina.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2011 07:54
|
|
|
JibbaJabberwocky posted:Just a warning about Mirena though, since many women experience this problem. But depending on the shape of your vagina and the shape of your partner's penis, the plastic strings can poke the head of the penis and this is not a comfortable sensation for the guy. Just make sure if the strings are poking him that you tell your doctor to cut the loving things such that they don't poke out of the cervix. Your Gynecologist will probably bitch about it, but if you tell her you want her to do this or you're loving leaving and finding another doctor she'll probably just do what you want. If not, find a doctor who will because this poo poo is a nightmare. You don't want to give your man a complex about the hazards of your vagina.  I do sympathize to any dudes that have suffered string pokes though, ouch.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2011 08:45
|
|
|
Kerfuffle posted:iirc, the strings don't stay pokey forever, eventually they soften so the danger of that is pretty much eliminated. Also if you leave the strings long enough they often curl back around the cervix and aren't "pokey" anymore. So trimming them super short might not be the best solution.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2011 14:52
|
|
|
This wasnt in the FAQ but I believe its a fairly popular question here. From what I understand the general consensus is taking birth control AND condoms is not necessary but how can I convince the new gf this? She uses birth control but still wants me to use condoms "just to be safe" because birth control still has a chance of failing (even if it is only .03% chance). I mean, its her body and I'll respect her wanting to be as safe as possible I guess but isnt using a condom with birth control sort of defeat the purpose of birth control? If anyone can explain to me the sides of this debate I would appreciate it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2011 18:58
|
|
|
Paranoia is going to win out. I was the same way for quite awhile, "what if's" still creep strongly in my head though sometimes. Leave her be for awhile, especially if this is her first time on birth control. It will probably mean a lot to her. And maybe talk about what you would do if she did get pregnant. Having some kind of a game plan will probably help. You are right, the chances are tiny if she's taking the pill perfectly (over typical use %), but she's really the one on the line here so to speak. It could be that she's worried about screwing up the pill. Things like that take time to get over.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2011 19:32
|
|
|
swagger like us posted:This wasnt in the FAQ but I believe its a fairly popular question here. From what I understand the general consensus is taking birth control AND condoms is not necessary but how can I convince the new gf this? BC doesn't protect against STDs. I would certainly make any new boyfriend use condoms until there was a certain level of trust and commitment... and testing.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2011 19:37
|
|
|
swagger like us posted:This wasnt in the FAQ but I believe its a fairly popular question here. From what I understand the general consensus is taking birth control AND condoms is not necessary but how can I convince the new gf this? She uses birth control but still wants me to use condoms "just to be safe" because birth control still has a chance of failing (even if it is only .03% chance). I mean, its her body and I'll respect her wanting to be as safe as possible I guess but isnt using a condom with birth control sort of defeat the purpose of birth control? If anyone can explain to me the sides of this debate I would appreciate it. I actually have kind of a similar question to this. I'm on the patch and my boyfriend has been cumming inside me pretty much every time we have sex. But last night he told me that he thinks he should only cum inside me every other time we have sex to "lower our chances" of me getting pregnant even though I'm on a really effective birth control. Is this reasonable? I really prefer him to just cum inside me because I feel like it kind of breaks the rhythm and gets me out of the mood when he has to pull out. If he's right about only cumming inside me half as much lowering our chances of me getting pregnant then obviously I'm all for that, but I have a feeling that's not correct.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2011 19:47
|
|
|
Budget Bears posted:I actually have kind of a similar question to this. I'm on the patch and my boyfriend has been cumming inside me pretty much every time we have sex. But last night he told me that he thinks he should only cum inside me every other time we have sex to "lower our chances" of me getting pregnant even though I'm on a really effective birth control. Is this reasonable? I really prefer him to just cum inside me because I feel like it kind of breaks the rhythm and gets me out of the mood when he has to pull out. If he's right about only cumming inside me half as much lowering our chances of me getting pregnant then obviously I'm all for that, but I have a feeling that's not correct. Basically (slightly oversimplified but whatever), either you released a fertile egg, or you didn't. The exact numbers depend on the type of birth control, but let's say for typical use it's 95% no egg, 5% egg. If the egg is there, it doesn't matter whether he comes inside you twice or ten times or once every three days. One sperm can do it, and sperm can live in the body for days. If the egg's not there, it doesn't matter how many gallons of semen you swim in, you're not getting pregnant. Pulling out "every other time" is pointless -- it only serves to frustrate you (and I can't imagine he really loves it either).
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2011 20:56
|
|
|
swagger like us posted:This wasnt in the FAQ but I believe its a fairly popular question here. From what I understand the general consensus is taking birth control AND condoms is not necessary but how can I convince the new gf this? She uses birth control but still wants me to use condoms "just to be safe" because birth control still has a chance of failing (even if it is only .03% chance). I mean, its her body and I'll respect her wanting to be as safe as possible I guess but isnt using a condom with birth control sort of defeat the purpose of birth control? If anyone can explain to me the sides of this debate I would appreciate it. If you're really paranoid about pregnancy, sometimes taking the pill is just to give yourself a little more peace of mind, not necessarily to stop using condoms altogether. I was like that for a while and the main reason I started the pill was just as a way to help me relax during sex and not be in bed worrying so much about stuff like "what if the condom breaks!!  " I didn't start taking it with the specific intention of not using condoms, just more as an extra layer of security in case something happened. No condoms didn't come until later when I was more comfortable with and knowledgeable about birth control.It can be kind of scary at first to rely solely on the pill. At least when a condom fails, you (usually) know it right away.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2011 23:56
|
|
|
Anne Whateley posted:No, this is hilarious. Thank you, this is exactly what I suspected! I'm going to explain this to him as soon as I see him. EDIT: I actually have one more question. As I mentioned, I just recently started on the patch, and I'm approaching my first "no patch" week. If I want to have sex during my no patch week, do we have to use condoms? I understand that no-patch week is when I'll get my period so I probably won't be having sex anyway but I'm mostly just curious if I'm still protected during that week or not. Budget Bears fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Jun 28, 2011 |
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2011 01:52
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 19:24 |
|
|
Budget Bears posted:EDIT: I actually have one more question. As I mentioned, I just recently started on the patch, and I'm approaching my first "no patch" week. If I want to have sex during my no patch week, do we have to use condoms? I understand that no-patch week is when I'll get my period so I probably won't be having sex anyway but I'm mostly just curious if I'm still protected during that week or not. You are still protected during your off-patch week, as long as you put on your next patch as scheduled (after seven days) 
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2011 02:39
|
|